The Austria focus tree mod – officially titled: ‘AUSTRIA REDONE – “Between two Giants”’ is a relatively new mod that has made a massive splash within the Hoi4 community. Adding an expansive focus tree for a nation whose fate is usually sealed early on.
This is the exact reason why when Paradox themselves wanted to add an Austria-Hungary path – they did so to Hungary, rather than to Austria. But with this mod, you can reform the empire (along with much more), with mechanics in place to allow you to battle back the Germans – or avoid war altogether. So in this Austria focus tree Hoi4 guide – we’ll show you what this excellent mod has to offer
To Begin – Where Can You Get The ‘Austria Redone’ Mod?
The ‘Austria Redone mod has been developed by ‘Kaiser Augustus’ over the last 3 years – with 1.0 finally releasing on the 8th August 2023. The mod can be downloaded from either Steam or Paradox Mods – both uploaded from Augustus directly.
So – What Does The Mod Entail?
The mod, as stated in the Steam mod page – adds the following:
“A Focus Tree with over 550 Focuses, with 6 main political subbranches:
1. Habsburg Tree
2. Heimwehr Tree
3. German Empire “in Exile” Tree
4. German Collaborationist Tree
5. Communist Tree
6. Democratic Tree
– All trees feature several own subbranches.
– Shared focus tree branches for:
1. The Armed Forces (Bundesheer, Luftwaffe, Marine)
2. Industrial and Economic Policies
3. Anschluss Issue and for a potential defensive war against Germany
4. Post WW2 Focuses
– Mechanics such as:
1. Several Balances of Power
2. A Propaganda Campaign System
3. A “Between two Giants” Mechanic balancing German and Italian Influence on the Nation
– Ton of country leaders, generals and characters, as well as advisors
– Over 250 new and unique events, fully immersing you into the game
– Many decisions with interesting choices
– Lots of custom, high quality GFX
– Many formable nations
– And simply so much more.”
As you can see – the mod is a truly expansive overhaul for Austria – adding a mammoth focus tree with many different paths and choices to make. So next in this Austria focus tree Hoi4 guide, we’ll go through each of the major focus branches – so that you can be as informed as possible when you play this mod!
Political Branch #1 – The Habsburg Tree
Let’s begin with probably the most well known political branch, that being the Habsburg path to restore the empire, in which you can assert Austrian dominance under the Austrian Empire – rebuild the dual monarchy with Austria Hungary – or even establish a democratic Austria, with representation for all – depending on the choices you make.
In order to get to this branch, you must first support the ‘Empower the Heimwehr’, and then attempt to find common ground with the Austrofascists. From there – you will be on the path to reforming your ideal version of Austria Hungary!
Following the creation of Austria Hungary – you can move onto reforming the Central Powers, and subjecting the Balkans. You can eventually decide whether you wish to ally with Nazi Germany or not, and finally you can reform the Holy Roman Empire should the correct conditions arise.
Suffice to say, this is one of the most expansive Habsburg experiences you can get in Hoi4!. With multiple branches tackling different aspects of your nation from your economy to your foreign policy and future. This is a great take on the famous Hoi4 nation.
Political Branch #2 – The Heimwehr Tree
The Heimwehr tree follows a different approach – after once again completing the ‘Empower the Heimwehr’ focus – you must instead double down in your support of the army, launching a civil war to oust the Austrofascists. If successful, you can then decide between 3 similar military leaders for Austria. Each is highly authoritarian, but to varying degrees.
Once you’ve chosen your leader – you have 3 options for the future of Austria:
- The first involves you having chosen Fey as your leader – he can then move to ally himself with the Germans
- The next path will see you attempt to unify the Alps under the Heimwehr, by merging with Switzerland
- The Final option sees you rapidly expand to form a ‘Greater Austria’, annexing parts of Germany too.
In addition, the furthest left branch grants some nice industrial bonuses. So – while this path is not as well fleshed out as the Austria Hungary path – it is a nice option for those wanting to play in a much more authoritarian and isolationist way.
Political Branch #3 – German Empire “In Exile” Tree
The third branch encompasses forming a rival German government to the Nazis in Berlin. Like the Habsburg tree – you can also establish a democratic nation if that interests you – or you can stick to the traditional ideals of the German Empire.
This branch once again requires you to ‘Empower the Heimwehr’ – but you then need to once again compromise with the Austrofascists. From there – seeing the state of the Germans in Berlin – you can then declare a rival German government – reinstating the Hohenzollerns as your leaders, and aiming to overthrow the Nazis. Once you taken Germany, you can reform the Central Powers, take back territories lost, and eventually reform the Holy Roman Empire.
This branch is a really unique take on forming the German Empire – as opposed to forming the empire from within the German Reich via a civil war – as we discuss in our Hoi4 Germany guide here – you instead form it from Austria – as almost a reverse Anschluss, it’s very fun and interesting to play.
Political Branch #4 – German Collaborationist Government
The next branch sees you subject to the Germans – with the main decision here being whether to stay allied to the Germans – or whether to rebel and fight against them.
This path is the first one in which you need to ‘Move against the Heimwehr’ – supporting the fascists. This path is predominantly for those that want to remain fascist – and those that do not want to fight the Germans early on (which can be a difficult fight!). You can still fight the Germans if you wish to do so – but this branch is definitely less fleshed out than some of the others – simply as a consequence of the main idea of the path being to subject yourself to Germany.
Political Branch #5 – Communist Branch
The final political branches are found in the furthest right path titled ‘Assassinate Schuschnigg’ – with the communist and democratic paths. The communist path is the first of these – you need to ‘Crush the Heimwehr’ in order to become communist.
This branch either sees you ally with or battle against the Soviets – maintaining democracy within a communist state – or becoming a totalitarian state.
This branch also has ample expansion opportunities, and opportunities to support other communist nations. In addition, you can actually form a global Socialist Republic – which technically means that this branch has a longer end goal than any other in this tree. This path is a really unique way to play Austria – especially surrounded by Fascist and Non-alligned nations.
Political Branch #6 – Democratic Branch
The final political path for this Austria focus tree Hoi4 guide is the democratic path – which eventually allows you to make a democratic German Republic after defeating the Nazis.
This Austrian path sees you work with the Heimwehr in order to re-establish democracy, with the choice of a centre left or centre right government. Both government types are fairly similar in their scope and choices – with the main decisions in this path being with regards to the Soviets and whether to ally with the British.
Despite this being a smaller path – you can get quite strong with it – allowing you to claim all German lands as your own, and granting you protections from the Allies and League of Nations.
Austria Focus Tree Hoi4 – Brothers’ War Paths
With all of the political branches covered – we can begin to discuss the other branches in the Austria Redone focus tree, starting with the paths relating to war with Germany.
These branches revolve around your policy towards the Germans before the potential war – and the receiving of aid and supplies during the war. It is with this branch that you can enlist the help of Italy, and potentially France and Britain. These will be highly important allies in order to defeat the Germans – or at least to hold out long enough in order to sue for a reasonable peace.
Austria Focus Tree Hoi4 – Industrial Branch
This focus branch includes the bulk of the industrial buffs, expansion opportunities and choices you’ll make with regards to your industry. The main one being whether to focus on rural or urban investments and developments – but you can also decide whether to repeal the Zunft Wesen or keep it – which is largely dependent on whether you wish to continue with Austrofascism or not. In addition – this branch will help you to deal with your weak economy at the start of the game – by reducing and removing debuffs that you start with.
It also grants you opportunities to extract more natural resources – which will be absolutely vital for your war against Germany – as Austria lacks many resources of its own to start with.
Austria Focus Tree Hoi4 – Military Branch
The final branch for this focus tree mod is the military path – which sees you decide how to address the issues with all 3 branches of the military.
Starting with the airforce, you can decide between specialising your designs (meaning fewer, better planes) or standardising your designs, (more, weaker planes) – in fact this just gives you a flat factory output bonus – benefiting all aspects of your military industry.
With regards to the army – you get the choice over whether to continue with the traditional Austrian military doctrine – or whether to move to a more mobile frontline. You can also address your manpower shortages by negotiating with the allies and by allowing women into the army.
Finally, you can also begin designing plans for an Austrian navy – deciding between a submarine, coastal defence – or high seas fleet.
Conclusion
So there we have it – one of 2023’s best mods broken down! We hope that you found this Austria focus tree Hoi4 guide helpful – if you did, we have a whole host of other Hoi4 guides that you might find useful – you can find those here! With all that said – thank you for reading – we’ll see you next time.
